‘Doctor Foster’ Is The British Spiritual Twin To ‘Gone Girl’ You Need In Your Life

American thrillers are fun and all, but there’s something really special about British tales of crime and passion. From their sharply defined protagonists to their complicated explorations of the nuances of human emotions, both positive and negative, good British dramas often feel more powerful and memorable than many of their American counterparts. And Doctor Foster is a very good British drama.

The series follows Dr. Gemma Foster (Suranne Jones), a doctor who becomes increasingly paranoid that her husband is cheating on her. As she becomes increasingly suspicious that her ideal world isn’t as picture perfect as she once thought, she unintentionally unlocks a world of secrets and violence. As far as dramas go, it has a fairly typical plot. The stunning, composed, and professional every woman becomes increasingly suspicious she’s being wronged by her husband. The perfect wife and mother is thrown unceremoniously into being the victim, and we’re forced to watch her climb her way back to a new level of normalcy. However, under the direction of writer Mike Bartlett and Jones, this age-old story gets some new life.

Jones is not a blameless victim in Doctor Foster. Even though she certainly doesn’t deserve to be cheated on, watching Gemma transform from trusting wife to scheming, wronged victim is chilling. The rational character the show initially introduces quickly dissolves before our very eyes and so too does almost every preconceived notion about this story. There’s a sort of Gone Girl tone that permeates the central marriage in Doctor Foster. Sure, Simon’s (Bertie Carvel) infidelity is wrong and arguably unforgivable, but the real horror comes from the systematic and careful way Gemma plots against this crime. Our titular doctor may be a seemingly flawless professional and wife, but you do NOT want to mess with her.

Currently, only Season One of the series is available to watch on Netflix with Season Two to come sometime in the future. Composed of five very bingeable one-hour episodes, Doctor Foster is the perfect high stakes, low commitment watch that will help spice up your weekend with some drama. Just remember to never use Gemma Foster as a relationship role model.